


A Moment to Talk

by buzzybees



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, a brief one, more so... angst though lol, nothing terribly bad though, spoilers for vol7 chap8 by the way, they just have a talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21895624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buzzybees/pseuds/buzzybees
Summary: takes place basically near the end of vol7 chapter 8, so click away if you haven't seen the chapter yet.are yall gone? okay, so to those that HAVE seen it, this takes place right after weiss and willow's interaction, and weiss has the video pulled up to watch. however, she gets interrupted by ruby, and a small talk ensues
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 4
Kudos: 101





	A Moment to Talk

**Author's Note:**

> just an idea that sprung to me earlier when i was going through tumblr, thinking about the chapter lol. i posted this on my tumblr, buzzybeesinlove, as well, so don't think this is some random person plagiarising or something, okay? anyway, i hope you enjoy lovely readers :)

“Who _are_ you?”

Her rhetorical question lingered in the air as she stared at the scroll in her hand, a frown etched on her lips at the image. She clicked play on the video, the sound of the door clicking shut behind her lingering in her ears. The experience of seeing her mother again, after all this time, was overwhelming to say the least. She couldn’t deny that it left her a bit disoriented, and she predicted that whatever was contained in this video was going to contribute more to that feeling.

It began with her father sitting alone, at his desk. It was silent for a long time, and all she could hear was her own breathing and the clock ticking on the wall. But then there was another noise, _definitely_ not from the video, because it crackled in her ear. and on instinct she paused the video and jumped, startled.

“Weiss? Weiss? Are you okay?”

Ruby.

Weiss let out a relieved breath, before pressing her finger to her ear, tuning in to the line of communication.

“I’m fine.” Weiss replied.

“Okay... That’s good.” Ruby said, and Weiss glanced down to the floor. She bit her lip as Ruby continued. “I know this is hard to do, and I’m sorry you went alone. I feel bad...” Ruby’s voice trailed off, and Weiss felt a pang in her heart. She allowed the corner of lip to quirk up, though, and she sighed.

“No need to. I understand this is important for everyone.” Weiss said. There was a pause in their communication, and Weiss raised a scarred eyebrow, before Ruby’s voice came back, a bit breathless this time.

“Sorry about that! Yang is... Having a bit too much fun with the idea of breaking stuff.” Ruby said, and the huff at the end of her remark caused Weiss to let out a laugh. She rolled her eyes fondly, fingers fiddling with the scroll in her hand.

“Frankly, I don’t blame her.” Weiss said, and the giggle she got from Ruby was pretty worth it.

“When that woman threw her wine on your brother’s head, he looked like a very angry grape.” Ruby commented, and Weiss bit her lip to keep her laughter in check, but Ruby cackling in her ear was making it more difficult.

She ended up humming in agreement.

There was another pause, before she heard Ruby sigh through the communication line, and her brow furrowed.

“Hey, Weiss...” Ruby mumbled, and Weiss raised her eyebrow again, a ball of worry in her stomach.

“Ruby?” She said, and Ruby sighed again.

“I know you’re... _Physically_ okay, but if you’re, you know, not... Hm...” She was fumbling, trying not to say something out of place. But Weiss understood what she was going to get to, and part of her felt the urge to mention her mother right then and there, and mention what had happened between them just before. But, the other part of her... Felt like it wasn’t the best time.

“Ruby...” Weiss said softly, and she heard a hum in her ear. Weiss chewed on her lip and sat down on one of the comfortable chairs in the room, glancing at the door to make sure she still had time. She looked down at the scroll in her hand. “Don’t worry, I’m..” Weiss thought for a second, compiling the words she wanted to say. “It’s been difficult, and not just for me. But... Sometimes, you just have to get by.”

She heard a disapproving sound from the other line.

“Weiss, that’s not- you can’t... Brush it aside, like that.” Her voice grew soft, and Weiss narrowed her eyes a bit. “... Are you sure you’re okay?” Ruby asked again, but this time, Weiss knew it wasn’t about her physical safety. It was a deeper question this time, and Weiss felt that pull again, to spill everything to her partner- her best friend. Which, maturing over the years with Ruby as her closest friend, she had grown more accustomed to opening up, and she would usually find herself with the comfort of a soft red cloak over her shoulders and understanding silver eyes. But, in Atlas, times were tougher, and time was limited. They barely had time anymore, and Weiss didn’t like it at all. But, as she said, sometimes you just get by.

“I will be.” She replied, and she heard Ruby sigh again. It was a gentle sound, and Weiss felt like she could hear all of Ruby’s worries and exhaustion in that single noise.

“You can... Say if you aren’t okay, you know.” Ruby said, and Weiss bit on her bottom lip.

“I know.” Was all she said, and it went quiet soon after that. This wasn’t exactly the conversation they needed to be having at that moment, and it was random and out of place and Weiss wondered what even prompted Ruby to bring any of this up. It was odd, and it nagged at the back of her mind, but instead of voicing all of these things, when she heard another shaky breath from Ruby, she felt a duty to her partner to ask her something. “Ruby...” 

A hum in acknowledgement. Weiss looked down.

“Are... _You_ okay?”

She heard a low chuckle, but it didn’t sound all that cheery or humorous. It sounded a bit darker, and she figured she wasn’t exactly supposed to hear it, but she didn’t comment on it. Instead, she waited patiently in the silence, wondering if Ruby had given up on the conversation altogether until her small voice returned once more.

“I don’t think I know what being okay means anymore.” Ruby said, and Weiss blinked, immediate concern settling in her stomach as she stood up from her chair. She was ready to march right back to the main foyer and ask her up front what the hell that even _meant_.

“Ruby-”

“Weiss.” Ruby cut her off, and normally she would be just as fondly annoyed at her as usual for doing that, but her heart was too busy picking up speed with worry to care about that. She waited another moment.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what that was about.” Suddenly, Ruby’s quirky, cheerful voice was back, and Weiss blinked again, in confusion. “Of course I’m okay.” Ruby said, and she frowned. She found her eyes travelling to the big portrait of her father hanging in the room. It made her feel sick, her stomach twisting in a way that wasn’t healthy. She sighed shakily and glanced down to her scroll again, before clearing her throat.

“You can say if you’re not okay, you know.” Weiss said, and when Ruby fell silent, she knew she had tripped her up a little bit with echoing her words back at her. Weiss looked to the door, before sighing and crinkling her brow.

“I, um.. I think I have something.” Weiss continued on, the prolonged silence not doing well with her anxiety of the situation. Ruby hummed, intrigued.

“What is it?” She asked, a more serious tone taking over this time.

“A video.” Weiss stated, licking her lips as she stared at where she paused it, the door just about to open on the screen. “I haven’t watched it fully, but... I thought you should know. I’ll show you all when I make it back to you.”

“Okay, good.” Ruby replied. Weiss waited a few seconds, wondering if she was going to say anything else. When there was nothing said, Weiss nodded to herself, sighing lightly.

“I’ll update you when I’m on my way back.” Weiss declared, and just as she was about to pull her finger away and focus on the video again, Ruby piped up.

“Weiss?”

Weiss sat back down on the comfortable, fluffy cushion of the chair again, then stared straight ahead at the wall.

“Yes?” Weiss said.

“Hurry back, please.” Ruby said, and Weiss was about to scoff playfully, but before she could reply, Ruby spoke up again, voice much softer and gentler. “Let me know if you need anything. Even if I’m not there, I’m always... _There_ you know?”

At first, Weiss _didn’t_ know. It was an odd form of speech, and Weiss was going to exasperatedly say she didn’t understand anything she just said, and for her to quit being so cryptic about everything. But when she heard the shaky breath through the line of communication, and into her ear, which she again suspected wasn’t meant to happen, she understood. She could read between the lines quite well, sometimes.

“ _In your heart, in your soul, wherever you need me to be.”_

Weiss slumped back into the chair, her one hand lowering the scroll to her thigh and then placing her hand on the armrest, eyes glued to it as she thought of what to say back.

Finally, she found the words.

“I know.” Weiss said. “I know, Ruby.”

It was only a few words, but the weight of them weren’t lost on either of them. She could hear through Ruby’s voice that she was now smiling.

“Good.” Ruby said. “And Weiss?”

“Hm?”

“Maybe... Er, I hope, maybe at some point, we can talk. Like we used to.” Ruby sounded sad, now, and it suddenly made a bit more sense to Weiss why Ruby started this conversation to begin with.

She missed her.

Weiss pressed her head back into the chair, gazing up at the ceiling. Ruby had started speaking again.

“I’m sorry we haven’t, and, ah, I know... Being here is hard on you. I hope you know I appreciate everything you’ve done- We all do, and I just-”

“Ruby.” Weiss interrupted her, cutting off the beginnings of this rant. Weiss sighed and closed her eyes, then opened them and rolled her head to the side, gazing at the wall. Her mind strayed to the room close to this one, with the family portraits hung up. She thought of her mother’s painting- young and fair and beautiful. And then her grandfather's painting, with a flowing red cape behind him and shiny, silver armour. Weiss blinked at herself, at the image of that painting in her mind.

She realised she had taken too long to continue her thought, as Ruby’s voice pushed her out of her thoughts.

“Uh, Weiss? What happened?” Ruby asked, and Weiss puffed out a breath, smiling a little at her concern.

“Nothing, sorry.” She said. “I was just saying... Ruby, it’s okay. Things haven’t exactly been... Ideal for us to have a moment alone, to talk about things.” Weiss’ heart pricked at Ruby’s solemn hum in agreement, and the sadness suddenly washed over her as well at how much she missed her too, even though she was only a few halls away from her. She knew in her heart, though, that she didn’t mean physically missing her.

Weiss cleared her throat gently. “We’ll find time, I’m sure. And, it’s just like you said...” Weiss’ voice turned softer, and at the back of her mind she could imagine Ruby calling her ‘Nice Weiss’, like when she made her coffee the way she always liked it. She thought of her grandfather’s portrait again, mind lingering on the red cape around his shoulders. A soft smile bloomed on her face. “Even if you’re not here, you’re still... _Here_. And for now, that’s enough.”

Ruby was quiet for a minute, before Weiss heard her let out a breathy chuckle.

“Exactly.” She said, and after a brief pause, she said, “Come back quickly, then. Remember to let any of us know if you need anything. Or if some baddies show up.”

“I will.” Weiss said, letting out a small laugh despite trying to hide it when Ruby said ‘baddies’. She picked up the scroll from her thigh again, ready to end the communication and press play.

“Stay safe.” Ruby said, and with that, Weiss heard the line go dead in her ear. Weiss sighed and pulled her finger away, twisting her wrist a couple times due to the cramp in it. She then held the scroll in both her hands, and with one final glance to the door, she pressed play.

She would find her team, later, and tell them all about Watts and her father in that video. But at another time, in the shadows of night and warm, cosy blankets on her bunk, she’d tell Ruby who gave her the video. Who she met that night. Because she knew Ruby would understand the most.

When that moment comes, she knows she can count on her partner to be there. 

And they’ll both be okay, in the end.


End file.
